If a business charges you — the Washington buyer — online sales tax on July 1, but didn’t on June 30, there’s a good chance that the business is on the amnesty list.

The method is not fool proof, however, because businesses with a presence in the state are already forced to collect sales tax, under state law. So if an online business opened a store in Washington on July 1, it would start charging tax online to Washington residents, regardless of the new law.

(For example, Amazon.com already charges Washingtonians sales tax because Amazon has a presence in this state.)

I’ll be posting more about this as the day wears on, including Jeff Bezos’ take on the tax issue.

If you accept the reader challenge, or have thoughts on this issue, please share in the comment section.